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Our Bureau

Mumbai , Feb. 4

MATTEL, the owner of the Barbie brand, has awarded The Shirt Company (TSC) the licence to manufacture and retail Barbie apparel in India.

A golden status export house, TSC works closely with Smith & Brooks, the official licensee for Barbie clothing in the European market.

TSC manufactures and exports the Barbie range to European and US markets, and on average, exports 50,000 garments a month for the brand.

The company is planning to retail Barbie clothing at three exclusive stores in Mumbai initially.

Two of them are likely to be ready in March — one at the Inorbit Mall in Mumbai and another in South Mumbai.

The stores will retail Barbie clothing and accessories that will be priced between Rs 295 and Rs 895, which is lower than the prices prevailing worldwide and roughly matches the prices of other leading childrenswear brands in India.

The apparel will also be available at multi-brand outlets and large format stores.

According to Ms Nanette D'sa, Vice-President (Marketing), Mattel India, Barbie apparel contributes a significant portion of the brand's revenues worldwide.

This segment grows at about 20 per cent per annum.

Ms D`sa said there was a definite market for children's apparel in the Indian market.

However, clothing for boys accounted for 70 per cent of what was available in the market, with a great deal of unisex clothing available as well. Childrenswear exclusively for girls only accounted for 20-30 per cent.

The brand is looking at a conservative target of 5 per cent of the market, which may translate into revenues of Rs 5-10 crore per annum.

Ms D'sa added that Mattel was keen that its licensee meet certain criteria in terms of product quality, globally accepted labour practices, decent wages, health and sanitation for its workers, which TSC meets.

There will be three launches this year, with the first range called Nature Hike, featuring about 35 designs. The other two are Poetry in Pink and Tiki Tech.

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